72 
MADAGASCAR. 
which they catch with their hands, and roast, 
after blowing away the wings and legs. 
There is no coinage in the country; but the 
currency consists of pieces of American and 
French dollars, cut up and weighed in tiny scales, 
a pair of which every person carries with him. 
The smallest weight represents the money value 
of one-twentieth of an English halfpenny. The 
people are very careful in the use of these scales, 
and sometimes will waste half an hour in arrang¬ 
ing a bargain and weighing out the value of the 
purchase, which may be only a voamena , or two¬ 
pence of our money. 
The Malagasy are thrifty, self-denying, and 
given to amassing wealth, which often is hid¬ 
den, on account of the grasping character of 
the central authorities till very lately, who were 
credited, and with some show of reason, with 
the detestable practice of fabricating charges 
against their wealthy subjects in order to squeeze 
their possessions from them in the shape of exor¬ 
bitant and incessant fines. Justice, till the rise 
of the present prime minister, was bought and 
sold; and the poorest litigant almost always lost 
his cause. Bribery and false swearing prevailed 
to a terrible extent; and even now, we may say 
with abundant truth, that the fountain of justice 
is not always pure. Lying is a popular weak¬ 
ness amongst the Malagasy, and is too often 
